Rhapsodi Affos Blog Reporter, NewsDesk


Not less than 30 people including a 37-year-old woman, who were suspected to have engaged in banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, and other crimes across Nigeria have been arrested and detained by men of the Nigerian police for arraignment before the court.



The men of the Nigerian Police force have apprehended a 33 year old male gun runner in Wukari, Taraba state. 


It was gathered that the gunrunner who was identified as Nuhu Yakubu hails from Donga, Taraba State, was intercepted by Force Intelligence Bureau Special Tactical Squad (FIB-STS) while conveying 1,500 AK47 ammunition from Wukari to bandits in the Donga Forest.


Also, Nvou Michael, a 37-year-old woman, an indigene of Plateau State, was among the suspects arrested. She  was intercepted by operatives along Samminaka/Jos expressway, Kaduna State, and was found in possession of 15 locally made rifles and 400 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm AK47 ammunition in a Toyota Hummer bus traveling from Jos, the state capital to Kaduna State.


Some of the items recovered include eight foreign and seven locally-made AK47 rifles, eight revolver rifles, 2,200 rounds of live ammunition of different calibers, 14 AK47 magazines, three stolen cars, 10 fake number plates, and a cash sum of N1,880,000 from the suspects during follow-up investigations.


As gathered, the suspect was an arms smuggler and was about to trade with some bandit groups in Kaduna State before her arrest.


In a statement released by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Thursday, the suspects were paraded to serve as a warning to other criminals perpetrating the act across the country.


Adejobi noted that all suspects would be arraigned before court upon the conclusion of ongoing investigations on the crime they were apprehended for.


The statement reads: “Notable amongst the cases is the arrest of one Ahmed Yunusa, aka “Yellow Ashana”, a 36-year-old leader of a vicious bandit group that has been terrorising communities and road users along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.


“The suspect who has been on the run following a police operation that led to the death of a member of his syndicate, one Yellow Magaji aka Arushe, was arrested during a sting operation by police operatives of the FIB-STS.


“The suspect confessed that he led the syndicate which has carried out several kidnapping operations on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, and launched three different attacks on Kadara Community in Kaduna State, wherein scores of persons were killed. He equally confessed to the kidnap and murder of one Hafsat Isah, who was lured into the bandit camp by her friend, one Ladi Sale that was equally arrested by the police.


“The operatives of the FIB-STS equally apprehended the duo of Idris Abdulwahab, 26-year-old, and Adams Ibrahim, 37-year-old, both from Okene, Kogi State, who have been linked to major bank robbery operations at Ondo State, and in Egbe, Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State, in 2021, where they killed a security guard.


“The suspects who specialize in the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to forcefully gain access into banks for their robbery operations, were intercepted by eagle-eyed police operatives at a checkpoint in Isonu, Kogi State, while heading to Okene from their forest hideout, with a cash sum of N1,880,000


“The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, while assuring the nation that the Force would continue to close-up on these criminal elements who pose a threat to national security, calls on well-meaning members of the public to readily assist the police with information to effectively combat the purveyors of violent crimes in the society”.